News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Hi everyone, Deborah and I are the fiction selectors for Wellington City Libraries and we spend a lot of time reading about, and choosing, lovely new fiction for the library.

Every few weeks we pick just a couple of books that we’ve ordered during the week that have really caught our eye and profile them here. They won’t be ’shelf ready’ as one says, but they will be due to published in the next six months and you can find them on the catalogue, available to reserve.

So, onto this week’s picks!

Diary of a mad fat girl.
If you’re a fan of Janet Evanovich, you’re going to love getting to know Gracelia “Ace” Jones. Ace is a feisty, sassy Southern lady, a Stephanie Plum-type character who, along with best friends Chloe and Linda, wrecks delicious havoc righting the wrongs in small-town Bugtussle. At the end of all the high jinks – some sleuthing. a little breaking and entering, a spot of dressing up as drag queens – the sisterhood expose the lies, the double-standards and dodgy goings-on in Bugtussle, Lots of fun – let’s hope we hear more of Ace and her friends in the future!

Nun / Simonetta Agnello Hornby
If you like your historical romances to have exotic locations, depth and complexity, you’re going to want to read this book. We follow Agata Padellini, who after her father’s death, is sent by her mother into a convent to separate her from the man she loves. Agata initially accepts her fate, and we learn much about the rituals, the jealousies and the intrigue of convent life in nineteenth-century Sicily. But this is a romance, so we can be sure that Agata will find a way to break her vowels and leave the convent for true love. A predictable plot? Not entirely, and not least because her eventual true love isn’t her first love. There are twists and turns and serendipitous happenings along the way in Agata’s story to keep you turning the pages far into the night.

Arcadia / Lauren Groff.
What happens when the ideal of the rural hippy life, full of warm, hard-working people with similar ideals and living off the land, fails to fulfil its promise? Bill Stone is a little boy, being lovingly raised by Adam and Hannah in Arcadia, a commune in the western reaches of New York State. But ideals are hard to live up to, and nothing lasts forever. As the 1960s progress, Arcadia becomes a magnet for people seeking the hippy experience, inevitably bringing the drugs, political debates and influences of the counter-culture movement that eventually destroy the dream. Core members leave – but adapting to the real world is harder for some than for others. Bill himself must find his place in this changed world. Lovely writing, apparently, and highly recommended by reviewers.

Hi everyone, Deborah and I are the fiction selectors for Wellington City Libraries and we spend a lot of time reading about, and choosing, lovely new fiction for the library.

Every few weeks we pick just a couple of books that we’ve ordered during the week that have really caught our eye and profile them here. They won’t be ’shelf ready’ as one says, but they will be due to published in the next six months and you can find them on the catalogue, available to reserve.

So, onto this week’s picks!

Angelmaker.
Angelmaker is the second book by Londoner, and son of John Le Carré, Nick Harkaway.  It’s been described as a crazy, comedic, sci-fi, noir (urban fantasy?)  i.e. genre defying.  About an antique clock repairman Joe Spork and the kindly old lady (or is she?!) he helps, who might just hold the key to a mysterious clock Spork has been trying to fix.  Is it a 1950s doomsday clock?  Why is he being watched by spies?  Will they save the world? The book is already generating a lot of interest and it just sounds so good!  (Check out the review from The Guardian).

Hawk quest.
This is the first novel by Robert Lyndon, who is also a falconer, and it’s set in 1072 after the Normans have captured England.  A warrior called Vallon must save a Norman knight who’s been kidnapped by the Turks by capturing four rare hawks.  This quest sets him on a journey around the world and on the adventure of a lifetime.   Labelled a ‘historical adventure epic’ and described as well written, evocative and filled with wonderful period detail and characters, it sounds too good to miss.   In fact several reviewers have said it was the best book they had read in a long time – so reserve it now!

There’s an Asian theme to this week’s top picks – perhaps because we’re still in the headspace of getting excited about the shortlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize. They all sound so good, you’ll want to reserve them straight away!

Forgotten country.
This is a beautifully written debut novel set around the lives of two sisters. Growing up in the American Midwest, the older and more dutiful Janie has borne the lion’s share of the responsibility of looking after the younger, more lovable but manipulative Hannah. These ties are suddenly cut, however, when Hannah inexplicably but purposefully disappears while away at College. Jamie sets out to find her, mindful of her grandmother’s warning that ever since the Japanese invasion of Korea, the family has lost a daughter in every generation. This is not a mystery story; rather it is a story of one family’s survival through the turbulent and cruel years of twentieth century Korea, their adjustment to life in a foreign land, and of their reconciliation with the past and their future.

All the flowers in Shanghai.
Also a debut novel, this is the story of Feng and her life in the turbulent years of mid-20th Century China. Beginning in the 1930s, Feng is a 17-year-old schoolgirl, living a charmed life in Shanghai. Her world is shattered, however, when her older sister, who was engaged, dies. Feng must now take her sister’s place and marry the fiancé, becoming the First Wife of a First Son in a prominent Shanghai business family. Naive and unworldly, Feng struggles to make a place for herself in her husband’s household, where she must deal with a cold and powerful father-in-law and his unpleasant extended family, and produce an heir. In the process, she makes terrible compromises and choices which haunt her all her life. Meanwhile, the world around Feng is changing. The glamour and glitz of her life can’t continue under Communist China, and Feng, grown used to her privileged life, must face the changes forced on her. While critics have hailed this poetic work, readers may struggle to empathise with Feng and her shifts in morality and personality that she makes to secure her place in her world.

The orphan master’s son : a novel / Adam Johnson.
In his novel, Adam Johnson explores if it is possible to maintain a sense of self and humanity in the deeply conformist, controlling and terrifying world that is North Korea. Pak Jun Do lives with his blind father in a North Korean camp for orphans. Orphans are routinely assigned to the most unpleasant and dangerous work and Jun Do is assigned to be a tunnel soldier, trained to fight in complete darkness in the tunnels underneath the DMZ. He is then reassigned as a kidnapper, snatching Japanese citizens who have particular skills which are needed in North Korea. Failure in any mission will result in being sent to the prison mines. The author does not spare the reader in portraying the truly, unimaginably, dreadful world of everyday life in North Korea. But in the midst of this awfulness, Jun Do falls in love, and in a clever and unexpected way, manages to propel himself into being able to take his fate into his own hands. This novel, part-adventure, part-thriller, part-romance, is compelling, “a masterpiece” says author David Mitchell (The thousand autumns of Jacob De Zoet).

I’ve been ordering a lot of chick lit recently as it’s a perennially popular section of our fiction collection.  Covering broken relationships and new motherhood – classic chick lit themes – these two new books do so with humour.  Which I think is very important if you’re looking for something light and enjoyable to read!

Both are expected to arrive at the library fairly soon.

Pear shaped.
This is the first novel by Stella Newman and it is about two very important things – romance and food.  The heroine is a chef, who meets a bloke and I think you can guess the rest – it doesn’t all go to plan!  The story has been described as well written, funny and unputdownable.  Good reviews too.

Just another manic mum-day.
This is the second novel for Mink Elliott (we have her other book too).  It’s actually a follow-up to her previous book, using the same characters - Roxy and her small family.  In this story Roxy and family have just moved to Sydney and are finding it hard to settle in and adjust to the new home.  Roxy decides to open a cafe for mums, for her friends and to help her to find the support network she needs – just to add to her stresses!  Of course, it does all work out in the end – this is chick lit! – but Roxy is an enjoyable character and relatable mum.

This week’s choices are both due in early 2012 (February and March respectively) and are written by young, female American writers.  Snow Child is the debut novel of Alaskan Eowyn Ivey whilst Arcadia is Lauren Groff’s third publication – we have her other books here and here.  Both these books have been well received and glowingly reviewed!

Snow child : a novel.
“Here’s a modern retelling of the Russian fairy tale about a girl, made from snow by a childless couple, who comes to life. Or perhaps not modern-the setting is 1920s Alaska-but that only proves the timelessness of the tale and of this lovely book. Unable to start a family, middle-aged Jack and Mabel have come to the wilderness to start over, leaving behind an easier life back east. Anxious that they won’t outlast one wretched winter, they distract themselves by building a snow girl and wrap her in a scarf. The snow girl and the scarf are gone the next morning, but Jack spies a real child in the woods. Soon Jack and Mabel have developed a tentative relationship with the free-spirited Faina, as she finally admits to being called. Is she indeed a “snow fairy,” a “wilderness pixie” magicked out of the cold? Or a wild child who knows better than anyone how to survive in the rugged north? Even as Faina embodies a natural order that cannot be tamed, the neighborly George and Esther show Jack and Mabel (and the rest of us) how important community is for survival. VERDICT A fluid, absorbing, beautifully executed debut novel; highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 9/21/11.]-Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.” (Library Journal)

Arcadia.
“Groff’s dark, lyrical examination of life on a commune follows Bit, aka Little Bit, aka Ridley Sorrel Stone, born in the late ’60s in a spot that will become Arcadia, a utopian community his parents help to form. Despite their idealistic goals, the family’s attempts at sustainability bring hunger, cold, illness, and injury. Bit’s vibrant mother retreats into herself each winter; caring for the community literally breaks his father’s back. The small, sensitive child whose purposeful lack of speech is sometimes mistaken for slowness finds comfort in Grimms’ fairy tales and is lost in the outside world once Arcadia’s increasingly entitled spiritual leader falls from grace and the community crumbles. Split between utopia and its aftermath, the book’s second half tracks the ways in which Bit, now an adult (he’s 50 when this all ends, in 2018), has been shaped by Arcadia; a career in photography was the perfect choice for a man who “watches life from a good distance.” Bit’s painful experiences as a husband, father, and son grow more harrowing as humanity becomes increasingly imperiled. The effective juxtaposition of past and future and Groff’s (Delicate Edible Birds) beautiful prose make this an unforgettable read. Agent: William Morris Endeavor. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved” (Publisher Weekly)

Elegy for Eddie. Maisie Dobbs, an ex-VAD nurse, runs a private detective agency in London with the assistance of Billy, a World War I veteran. This is the sixth book in a compelling, edgy series, set in the late 1920s and early 1930s, just as the Depression begins to bite. In Elegy for Eddie, Masie accepts a case investigating the brutal killing of a street peddler. It leads Masie and Billy on a twisting and convoluting trail through some of the meanest neighbourhoods in London and into the highest echelons of society and power. There is nothing shallow and predictable about these detectives. Jacqueline Winspear gives us characters of complexity and depth, and she portrays with great skill the vanished world of pre-war London with all its complicated layers of class and customs which have long since disappeared.

American dervish. Hayat Shah is a 10-year-old son of a Pakistani family living in Milwaukee in the 1980s. The family is already rivven with underlying tension as the novel begins: his determinedly secular neurologist father is best friends with a Jewish colleague, Nathan, and having an affair with another woman, much to the resentment of his mother. Into this volatile environment comes his mother’s best friend, recently divorced by her husband for her “fast mouth”. It is she who introduces Hayat to the beauty of the Qu’ran. But when she falls in love with the Jewish Nathan, Hayat, now a teenaged Muslim fundamentalist commits a terrible act of betrayal that he deeply regrets as he moves into adulthood. This fine debut novel is essentially a coming-of-age family drama, with all its conflicts, and generational differences, with the added nuance of growing up Muslim in the United States.

Hi everyone, Deborah and I are the fiction selectors for Wellington City Libraries and we spend a lot of time reading about, and choosing, lovely new fiction for our customers.

This is a new feature we hope to update every week – just a couple of books that we’ve ordered during the week that have really caught our eye.  They won’t be ’shelf ready’ as one says, but they will be due to published in the next six months and on the catalogue, available to reserve.  We’re going to write a couple of sentences about what the books are about and why we think it’s interesting.

You’ll have to be the judge of whether it’s a good read or not – we’d love to hear your comments!

So onto this week’s picks.

Pure.
A postapocalyptic horror novel, already considered to be one of the best of this genre. Set after the ‘detonations’, the protagonist is a young teenage girl who is a survivor – disfigured and living separate from the ‘pures’ (those left unscathed). Sounds a bit like John Wyndham to me and tipped to be the next Hunger Games.

Rook.
This book is described as a high-action supernatural thriller. Not normally my kind of thing, but opening premise got me hooked – waking up in park surrounded by dead men all wearing latex gloves! It sounds a bit like (the TV series) Spooks to me, but with a humorous sci-fi twist, and I love that show – can’t wait.

Escape the winter doldrums with a sneak peek at an eclectic selection of new books.  (These books are not on the shelf yet they are available for you to reserve).

Photobooth dogs.
“This one-of-a-kind collection celebrates the age-old bond between dogs and their people. Featuring happy and clearly beloved pets in more than 100 portraits taken in photobooths over the last 80 years, these images are a testament to the devotion people have felt and will always feel for their dogs.” (Syndetics summary)

Destiny disrupted : a history of the world through Islamic eyes / Tamim Ansary.
“A sweeping narrative history by the acclaimed author of “West of Kabul, East of New York” illuminates how Muslims have seen the history of the world–and what western world history leaves out.” (Syndetics summary)

New gypsies.
“Photographer Iain McKell offers an extraordinary – and breathtakingly beautiful – glimpse into the lives of a real and raw group of present-day nomads whose culture is built around ideals of freedom, nature, and simplicity.” (Syndetics summary)

A cook’s year in a Welsh farmhouse / Elisabeth Luard ; photography by Clare Richardson.
In an old farmhouse on the slopes of a mountain lying between Tregaron and Aberystwyth, Elisabeth Luard brings the produce of the land into her kitchen and turns it into delicious food. This book is her response to the changes she sees in her garden and the surrounding countryside throughout the seasons, with distinctive recipes at the end of each month’s chapter. It is the story of a year spent planting and picking in the garden, roaming the countryside with her grandchildren and introducing them to the pleasures of rural living.  With full colour photography by Clare Richardson that perfectly captures the sense of life in the Welsh countryside, this is a unique and beautiful book. (globalbooksinprint summary)

How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One
“”New York Times” columnist Fish presents an entertaining, erudite celebration of language and rhetoric drawing on a wide range of examples from Hobbes to Scalia to Elmore Leonard.” (Syndetics summary)

All My Friends Are Dead
“If you’re a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you’re a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you’re a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children’s book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character’s unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.” (Syndetics summary)

Yes – vegan ebooks!
Did you know that some of the most popular, and some of my favourite, vegan cookbooks are available from our Overdrive eLibrary?   And most are sitting on the shelf, so to speak, right now so you can beat that reserves queue.   If the book you want is on loan you can also reserve ebooks, just like you would ‘normal books’ -  in fact its even better as ebooks are free to reserve!

Here’s a selection of titles -
How it all vegan! : irresistible recipes for an animal-free diet / Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer.
“This 10th-anniversary edition of the book that introduced the tenets of vegan living and eating includes a new color-photo section and new recipes as well as a new Introduction by co-author Kramer.” (Syndetics summary)

Veganomicon : the ultimate vegan cookbook / Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.
“It’s easy to live vegan 24/7 with this collection of 250 recipes, menus, and color photos for dishes that taste even better than their non-vegan counterparts. The cookbook offers innovative recipes for all occasions, convenience, easy-to-find ingredients, and gluten-free and tofu-free options.” (Syndetics summary)

Appetite for reduction : 125 fast & filling low-fat vegan recipes / Isa Chandra Moskowitz ; with Matthew Ruscigno.
“Bestselling vegan chef Moskowitz is known for making groundbreaking strides in vegan cooking. “Appetite for Reduction” offers 125 delicious, big-portion recipes that are fewer than 400 calories per serving, low in fat and sugar, and high in fiber.” (Syndetics summary)

For newbies to Overdrive this is a link to help you get started and provide you with all the relevant ebook information.  Happy downloading!

This month we highlight some new picture books that took the children’s buyers’ fancy, including text from the reviews that grabbed them. It’s an ecclectic selection, plenty to entertain both children and adults!

Ape by Martin Jenkins. School Library Journal says, “Jenkins avoids anthropomorphizing in this simple introduction to four rare apes-chimps, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas-and provides basic facts about their daily eating and sleeping habits. The highly textured and naturalistic pencil and oil illustrations deftly blend subtle colour and back-and-white scenes and are made for group sharing…The book concludes by comparing humans to the four others and explains the negative impact that we’ve had on their survival.” (Julie) This title is on order, but you can reserve it now ($2 on an adult’s card, free on a child’s card).

Big Animal Mix-Up by Gareth Edwards. Little Bear’s dad tries to teach him about animals, but the problem is they are a little mixed up. E.g. “Does a cat have feathers? Does it fly in the air? No that’s a…” As you lift the flap to reveal the answer you’ll have children shouting out the correct names for the animals that are mixed up. (Steph)

A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon. Illustrated by Viviane Schwarz of There are cats in this book fame. This is the story of seven very cute little critters that live in a hole. When they grow too big for the hole they have to find a new home and the adventure begins… Much of the book is in simplified comic format so probably great for one to one reading or early independent readers. (Julie)

Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell. In this excellently reviewed picture book, Patrick McDonnell tells the story of a young Jane Goodall and her childhood toy chimpanzee Jubilee. Cute Jane (a very buttoned up child) observes everyday animal miracles in her English country home and dreams of a life living with and helping animals until one day she finds that her dream has come true. Additional material includes a short biography, photos and a letter and drawing from Jane herself. (Steph)

Press Here by Herve Tullet. This is a great interactive book, which has a lovely simplicity about it that Kirkus explains here: “One lone, yellow dot sits in the center of a blank, white page. Underneath is the inviting command (affirming the reader’s already intrinsic urge): ‘Press here.’ Turn the page; now there are two yellow dots! Press again. Now, three! What happens if you tap them? Or tilt the book on its side? Gleefully, the dots scatter like marbles.” (Steph) This title is on order, but it can be reserved.

You Are What You Eat by Serge Bloch. School Library Journal says, “Before his appetite was whetted by the taste of a tofu dog, the picky eater in this picture book subsisted on meals of macaroni. The boy narrates his gradual transformation in a humorous story that uses 31 idioms related to food. ‘Use your noodle!’ his mom says, ‘People need three square meals a day.’ His dad, the couch potato, warns him his goose will be cooked if he lives on macaroni, and his sister, who eats like a horse, says things to him that he needs to take with a grain of salt… By the end of the book, feelings of frustration are replaced with feelings of pride. Mom is pleased as punch that her son has realized that variety is the spice of life.” On order: reserve it now!

No Bears by Meg Mckinlay. From Global Books: “Ruby is in charge of this book. And she’ll tell you something right now. There are NO BEARS in it. Not even one. Ruby wants to tell you a story. A story with absolutely no bears. You don’t need bears for a book. You need pretty things like fairies and princesses and castles. And maybe funny things and exciting things – but definitely no bears.” (Julie) This title is on order, but you can reserve it now.

Yoko’s Show and Tell by Rosemary Wells. A new treat from Rosemary Wells of Max and Ruby fame. Yoko is excited when she gets a precious kimono wrapped doll from her Japanese grandparents for Girls Day. Yoko longs to take Miki to school for show and tell but her mother says NO in her big no voice. Yoko decides to take Miki to school anyway but something disastrous happens on the way… This lovely reassuring story has gorgeous illustrations using Japanese style cut-paper designs. (Steph)